The race course was revised by Claudio Caluori at the end of last year and is perfectly prepared for the start of the season. The start now takes place at the middle station and measures 2.4 kilometers and 640 vertical meters.

The most important innovation this year, which has already been mentioned several times, is the classification of the race by the UCI. For the first time in the downhill discipline, the Tamaro race has been classified as a Hors Category, meaning that there are world ranking points up to 25th place and prize money of almost 8,500 euros. The level is therefore likely to be higher than ever before.Rachel Atherton will be competing in an iXS race for the first time. Even if she can be considered a podium contender, a look at the list of participants shows that it will definitely not be easy for her. The Scott 11 team will be at the start, this year with the winner of last year's race Emilie Siegenthaler and newcomer Romain Paulhan. But the MS Mondraker team members will also be collecting points for the series ranking right from the start. Last year's winner Markus Pekoll will try to secure a podium place, but Brook MacDonald and the two new signings Damien Spagnolo and Emmeline Ragot can also be named as favorites. And to complete the line-up of fast Frenchmen, Mickael Pascal, currently tenth in the world rankings and French champion, and Florent Payet, the winner of Pila 2011, should also be on the radar. From a German perspective, you should keep an eye on Marcus Klausmann and the former fourcross pro and thus lateral entrant Johannes Fischbach.

Source, press release, www.ixsdownhillcup.com